FLORIDA · WEKIWA SPRINGS · DECEMBER
The air over central Florida loses about four and a half degrees between November and December. The spring loses nothing. The USGS gauge in the Wekiwa spring run read 75.6°F (24.2°C) on September 11, 2026, and it reads close to that on whatever date you pick, while December air averages a high of 73.8°F. That mismatch is what the month is worth: on a normal December afternoon, the water is the warmer of the two.
What December takes back is daylight and mornings. On December 15 the sun rises at 7:10 a.m. and sets at 5:32 p.m., for 10 hours and 22 minutes of usable day, and an average low of 52.9°F turns the first swim into a decision rather than a reflex. If those two figures change your mind, November runs warmer and drier, and January runs cooler with more wet days.
THE MONTH AT A GLANCE · WEKIWA SPRINGS · DECEMBER
December hands you the coolest comfortable air of the Florida year over a spring that has no season: walk in the morning, swim between noon and three, and stop paddling by four.
AVG HIGH 73.8°F · SPRING GAUGE 75.6°F · 3.7 RAIN DAYS · SUNSET 5:32 P.M.
Go for: 13.7 miles of trail at 73.8°F, a swim in water warmer than the air, and 15.9 miles of paddling trail without a summer Saturday’s pressure on the lot.
Think twice before: planning an 8 a.m. swim, with the average December low at 52.9°F and nothing warm about a wet exit at that hour.
Air: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020, Orlando Intl AP · Water: USGS gauge 02234600 · Facilities: Florida DEP 2024 inventory
On this page
- Wekiwa Springs weather in DecemberHighs, lows and 3.7 rain days
- How warm December days get73.8°F by afternoon, 52.9°F at dawn
- Crowds and parking in December325 spaces and what they decide
- Things to do at Wekiwa Springs in DecemberSwim area, launch, 13.7 miles of trail
- A two-day plan for the parkHour by hour, from a 7:10 a.m. sunrise
- December, November or January?How the three months compare
- Is December a good time to visit?Our verdict, and who should shift
The park does not change shape in December: one designated swimming area, one canoe, kayak and tube launch, 13.7 miles of hiking trail. What the date changes is the air over the water, the pressure on a 325-space lot and the hour the light quits. The rest of the park sits in the main Wekiwa Springs guide.
Wekiwa Springs weather in December: average highs, lows and rain days
| December, at the airport gauge | Value |
|---|---|
| Average high | 73.8°F |
| Average low | 52.9°F |
| Precipitation | 2.48 in |
| Days with 0.10 in or more | 3.7 |
| Days with 1 in or more | 0.7 |
| Nights at 32°F or below | 0.3 |
Every figure here for air comes from NOAA NCEI monthly normals for 1991 to 2020, measured at Orlando International Airport, about 27 miles (44 km) from the spring. December averages a high of 73.8°F, a low of 52.9°F and 2.48 inches of rain. That is a real thermometer with a full record, not a reanalysis grid cell, but it is not standing at the spring: read the normals below as the regional signal rather than as a reading from the hollow where the run flows.
Measurable rain falls on 3.7 December days at a tenth of an inch or more, roughly one day in eight, and 0.7 day reaches a full inch, so a genuine soaking turns up in about seven Decembers out of ten. Spread over 2.48 inches, that is a wet morning or a wet hour, not a written-off week. On a five-day trip, budget one damp half day and expect the rest dry.
20.9°F separate the average high from the average low, and both ends land inside the same day. A 7 a.m. trailhead wants a fleece and long pants; 2 p.m. wants shorts. Pack a second towel as well, because stepping out of 75.6°F water into air that has not reached 70°F yet is the moment visitors underdress for. A knit hat weighs nothing and settles the first hour of the morning.
Daylight on December 15 runs 10 hours and 22 minutes, from a 7:10 a.m. sunrise to a 5:32 p.m. sunset, Eastern time. Set the swim before 3 p.m. and the paddle before 2, because 15.9 miles of paddling trail and an early sunset do not negotiate. We could not verify the park’s opening and closing hours, since the state parks site refuses automated reads, so call before you count on a late exit.
How warm is Wekiwa Springs in December?
December’s average high is 73.8°F, its average low 52.9°F, a 20.9°F swing between dawn and mid-afternoon. The spring sits outside that argument: the USGS gauge at station 02234600 read 75.6°F (24.2°C) on September 11, 2026, and a Florida spring holds near that value all year. One caution on the water figure. It is a single instantaneous reading, not a monthly average of daily maxima, so treat it as the gauge’s ordinary value rather than a guarantee for your date.
Mornings ask for a layer nobody packs for Miami: a fleece over the swimsuit at 52.9°F, closed shoes for the trails. By early afternoon the fleece is in the daypack, and at 75.6°F the water sits nearly two degrees above the average 73.8°F air. Most December days therefore work in one order: hike from opening, swim between noon and 3 p.m., dry off while the sun is still doing something.
Freezing nights are rare without being absent. The normals count 0.3 nights at or below 32°F in an average December, so roughly one December in three brings a single freeze. A frosted windshield does not move the gauge, but it moves the hour you want to be in the water toward the middle of the day. Campers feel a 32°F night far more than day visitors do, and the family version of this trip is an afternoon trip in that week.
How busy is Wekiwa Springs in December? Crowds, prices and parking
December falls inside Florida’s dry season, the November-to-April stretch that built the state’s winter reputation. We found no occupancy series and no monthly room-rate series for the Wekiwa corridor, so we crown no month cheap and no month expensive. What can be counted is capacity: Florida’s Department of Environmental Protection lists 325 parking spaces at Wekiwa Springs State Park in its 2024 inventory, and when the lot fills, the gate closes. That mechanism bites hardest on summer Saturdays. Whether a late-December week does the same, we could not verify.
Naming a booking window takes a rate curve, and we could not verify one, so we give no number of weeks. The arrival hour is the lever we can give. Entry runs on that 325-space lot and we found no day-entry reservation system for the park, which means the clock decides the queue rather than a booking screen. On a bright weekend, be in the line well before mid-morning. Price the rooms with our Florida trip cost guide.
We could not verify the lodging-tax rate that applies around Wekiwa Springs, so we quote no percentage. Read the tax line on the confirmation before you compare two quotes, because the advertised nightly rate is not the number that leaves your account. Our know-before-you-go guide handles the rest of the small print.
The one line worth paying up on in December is the distance between your bed and the gate. Nothing else we could verify carries a price: not entry, not the launch, not a rental, and we will not lift a fee from another park and call it this one’s. With 10 hours and 22 minutes of daylight to work with, a room twenty minutes away instead of across Orlando hands back the best part of the morning, the hour when the 325 spaces are still free.
Things to do in Wekiwa Springs in December
December lets you use the trails and the water on the same day without choosing between them. Walking 13.7 miles of hiking trail under a 73.8°F afternoon is pleasant; covering the same ground in July is a different sport with a different water bill. The 325-space lot still governs the day when it fills, and whether it fills during the holiday weeks we could not verify, so the rule holds year-round: early arrivals park, late ones read a closed gate.
Wekiwa Springs State Park, as the state counted it in 2024: one designated swimming area, one canoe, kayak and tube launch, 15.9 miles of paddling trail, 13.7 miles of hiking trail, 1,435 feet of boardwalk, 325 parking spaces. We could not verify an entrance fee, an opening hour or a rental price for any of it, so we quote none. Those six figures are what the park physically holds, in December as in June.
Across a year the run barely moves and the air above it swings hard. The gauge sat at 75.6°F, December air averages 73.8°F by day and 52.9°F at dawn, and that is the month when you climb out of the water into something cooler than the water. Paddlers notice it first: a wet shirt at 9 a.m. in 55-degree air ends a trip early, so start the 15.9-mile paddling trail dry and keep a dry layer in the boat.
We could not verify what the gate charges in December, or whether any day of the month waives it, so we promise nothing free. What we found no separate ticket for is the walking: the trail network, the 1,435 feet of boardwalk and the swim area all sit behind the same entrance. Manatee season is not a Wekiwa story, and no manatee count for this spring could be verified. Our manatee guide points at Crystal River instead.
Wekiwa Springs in December: a two-day itinerary
Day one runs on 10 hours and 22 minutes of light. Reach the gate near the 7:10 a.m. sunrise wearing the fleece, walk two or three hours of the trail network while the air climbs out of 52.9°F, then swim between noon and 2 p.m., when 73.8°F air makes 75.6°F water feel neutral rather than bracing. Eat late, dry completely, and leave the paddling for tomorrow. Anything still on the water after 4:30 p.m. is racing a 5:32 sunset.
Day two belongs to the launch. One canoe, kayak and tube launch feeds 15.9 miles of paddling trail, and a mid-morning start keeps the low sun behind you on the way out. Turn back with two hours of light in hand. If your trip catches one of December’s 3.7 wet days, trade the paddle for the boardwalk and then drive into Orlando for the indoor half of the day. Our Florida things-to-do guide keeps the rain list.
Wekiwa Springs in December vs November and January
| Measure | November | December | January |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average high | 78.3°F | 73.8°F | 71.8°F |
| Average low | 58.2°F | 52.9°F | 49.5°F |
| Precipitation | 1.79 in | 2.48 in | 2.48 in |
| Days with 0.10 in or more | 3.0 | 3.7 | 4.0 |
| Spring water at the gauge | 75.6°F | 75.6°F | 75.6°F |
November runs 4.5°F warmer by day and 5.3°F warmer at night than December, on 1.79 inches of rain against 2.48 and 3.0 wet days against 3.7. January moves the other way: 71.8°F and 49.5°F, the same 2.48 inches, and 4.0 days at a tenth of an inch or more. All three columns share one water figure, 75.6°F, because a spring run has no monthly cycle. The single gauge reading is instantaneous, not an average of daily maxima, and it applies as much to January as to December.
Move four weeks back to November and you buy the mornings back, 58.2°F instead of 52.9°F, plus 0.69 inch less rain, and you give up nothing in the water. Move four weeks forward to January and you trade 2.0°F off the daily high and one extra wet day for the coolest hiking air of the three. The choice comes down to one question: do you swim at 9 a.m. or at 1 p.m.?
Is December a good time to visit Wekiwa Springs?
Yes for anyone who wants to walk and swim on the same day. A 73.8°F afternoon over a 75.6°F spring is a December specialty, and 3.7 wet days leave most of the month dry for the trails. No if the trip depends on early-morning swimming, or on children who stay in the water an hour at a time. A 52.9°F dawn ends that plan fast, and an 8 a.m. exit from the run is genuinely cold.
If the answer is no, shift to November rather than January. November’s 78.3°F days and 58.2°F nights give the mornings back, and 1.79 inches over 3.0 wet days makes it the driest of the three months. The cost is a busier park, though we could not measure that with any occupancy figure. Our November page carries that month in full, and the statewide calendar puts it in context.
December alone offers a 20.9°F daily swing over water that holds one temperature: fleece at 7:10 a.m., a swim at noon, long pants again before the 5:32 p.m. sunset, all inside a single day.
The last word
Book the bed close to the gate, set the alarm for sunrise, and let the afternoon do the swimming. One thing to carry in on the drive: Florida law names this spring outright. The statute defining an Outstanding Florida Spring covers every historic first-magnitude spring, then lists six more by hand, De Leon, Peacock, Poe, Rock Springs, Wekiwa and Gemini. That list is the state protecting a spring by name rather than by size, and in December you get it at 75.6°F with the air cooler than the water.
Sources & data for this guide
- December air normals, 73.8°F / 52.9°F / 2.48 in, and rain, freeze and neighboring-month figures · NOAA NCEI monthly normals 1991-2020, station USW00012815, Orlando Intl AP, FL US · checked Sep 24, 2026
- Daylight, sunrise 7:10 a.m. and sunset 5:32 p.m. on December 15 · sunrise-sunset.org, converted from UTC to Eastern time · checked Sep 24, 2026
- Spring water 75.6°F (24.2°C), single instantaneous reading · U.S. Geological Survey, National Water Information System, station 02234600 Wekiwa Springs · read Sep 11, 2026
- 325 parking spaces, 1 swimming area, 1 launch, 15.9 mi paddling trail, 13.7 mi hiking trail, 1,435 ft boardwalk · Florida Department of Environmental Protection, Recreational Facilities Inventory 2024 · read Sep 11, 2026
- Outstanding Florida Spring designation and the six named springs · Florida Statutes 373.802(5), leg.state.fl.us · read Sep 11, 2026
- We could not verify an entrance fee, an opening hour or a manatee count for Wekiwa Springs: floridastateparks.org returns 403 to automated reads and the FWC manatee page renders client-side · noted Sep 11, 2026
- No occupancy series and no monthly lodging rate or lodging-tax figure could be verified for the area, so no price ranking and no percentage appear from us.
To plan your stay
- Best Time to Visit Wekiwa Springs: Monthly Weather, the Swimming Season and the Quiet Months
- Wekiwa Springs in January: Weather, Water Temperature, Crowds and a Two-Day Plan
- Wekiwa Springs in November: Water Temperature, Rain Days and Crowds
- Wekiwa Springs in February: Weather, Water Temperature, Crowds and a Day Trip